Peonies bloom in Heze. [Photo by Ran Lingjie/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In the early 1980s, Heze and Sukagawa became sister cities due to the peony. In 1990, the peony was exported in large quantities for the first time to Hachishu in the Shimane prefecture in Japan, which officially opened the door for the bulk export of peonies.

In 1993, Heze donated 200 peonies of 50 varieties to help residents near the "Golden Triangle" in Thailand to cultivate peonies instead of poppies, which became a symbol of the Sino-Thai friendship.

The Heze peony industry has developed rapidly, and 90 percent of China's new peony varieties and 85 percent of the nation's peony exports are provided by Heze. The Heze peony has been exported to Japan, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Russia, France, the Netherlands, Australia and other countries and regions.

At present, Heze has seven enterprises exporting peony seedlings, which are mainly exported to the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, Italy and other countries, and consist of more than 100 varieties in nine colors. In recent years, the export volume of Heze peony seedlings has remained at nearly 3 million.

The Heze peony has increasingly appeared at important occasions at home and abroad.

In May 2017, when the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing, more than 2,400 Heze peonies bloomed gracefully in Tiananmen Square.

From September 3 to 5, 2017, when the 9th BRICS Summit was held in Xiamen in East China's Fujian province, "Guyu" peony seed oil produced by Heze Guyu Peony Biotechnology Co stood out from many competitors and impressed foreign guests.

On June 9-10, 2018, the 18th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held in Qingdao in Shandong province. During the summit, more than 1,000 pots of peony flowers selected by Heze were placed in the main venues of the summit such as the Qingdao International Conference Center, Qingdao Art Museum, and Media Conference Center as ornaments.

In 2019, the Palace Museum and Heze city government organized an exhibition in the Forbidden City with 15,000 potted peonies, 26,000 cut flowers and peony derivatives, peony cultural and creative products, which attracted a lot of attention both domestically and across the globe.

During 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, more than 100 pots of out-of-season peonies representing the enthusiasm and blessings of the people of Heze were unveiled at the National Olympic Sports Center.